1861 $20 Paquet Reverse MS67 认证号-48216, PCGS号8933

Ron Guth

In early 2017, PCGS had the high honor of examining and authenticating the finest of two known 1861 Paquet $20's as a PCGS MS67.  In the video below, David Hall explains why this is such an important coin.

David Akers (1975/88)

This is the rarest regular issue U.S. Double Eagle but it is also one of the least publicized. For a great many years it was widely considered to be a pattern but more recent research has shown it to have been intended for actual circulation. However, before any were released, the entire mintage was recalled and melted. The number originally struck is not known but only two specimens can be accounted for today. One is in the Norweb Collection and is the specimen from the Farouk sale. Although I am not absolutely certain, I believe this to be the same coin that was sold in the famous Parmelee sale of 1890. The Parmelee coin was undoubtedly the piece from the 1865 Woodward Sale (March 20, 1865) where it was lot 2818 and sold for $37.00 (quite a high price for the time - remember this was only four years after the coin was struck) to a "Mr. French." It was described by Woodward as "Perfect Uncirculated. Said to be unique." The second known specimen is now in a prominent Dallas bank collection. This coin, earlier provenance unknown, was purchased by Paramount International Coin Corporation's European buyer, Paul Whittlin, in Paris in the mid-1960's for $7,500. It was authenticated by the U.S. Treasury Department (common practice in those days on incoming shipments of rare U.S. gold coins from Europe) and then sold to Ben Dreiske of RARCOA for $12,500. Ten years later it was sold into the Texas bank collection for a sum reportedly in excess of a quarter of a million dollars.